


Forever Home

by PhenixFleur



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cats, Established Relationship, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, i needed to write something cute and this happened, pet adoption, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-01
Updated: 2013-10-01
Packaged: 2017-12-28 04:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/987445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenixFleur/pseuds/PhenixFleur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's not really a cat person, but apparently Loki is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forever Home

**Author's Note:**

> Really shameless fluff devoid of much in the way of snark. I glossed over much of the background information: assumed that Tony and Loki have an established relationship, the world knows about it, Loki's living with them. It doesn't matter. There are cats.

Tony Stark is not a cat person. 

Really, he's not much of a pet person in general. Cats and dogs and ferrets claw at expensive furniture and leave unwrapped gifts in the carpet and spray urine in odd places; they require being fed on a regular basis and cleaned up after, and while it would be easy enough to automate these processes -- he  _is_  a genius inventor, after all; a self-cleaning litterbox or timed food dispenser or dog-walking robot is easy enough -- he's never really bothered with the idea. 

So it's no surprise that he pays the tables of crates staffed by cheerful, bright-eyed shelter volunteers little mind as he walks past a child laying it on rather thick for a harried parent, clutching a bony orange tabby  _much_  too tightly and wailing, "Mom, please? I'll feed her and clean out her litterbox and you won't have to do anything, I promise!"

_We all know how long that's gonna last._  It isn't until he's several feet away, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses at the child's pleas (which are steadily rising in volume) that he realizes that Loki, thus far regally trailing behind him through the park with occasional sarcastic commentary, is no longer following him. 

The demigod has paused at one of the tables, making eye contact with a fat tuxedo cat pressed up against the front of its crate with a single white-tipped paw poking through the bars. Tony isn't sure whether they even have domestic cats on Asgard (like everything else, they're probably oversized and probably breathe fire or something else ridiculous), but the mixed expression of confusion and childlike wonder on Loki's face is  _adorable._ The cat emits a soft noise of weak protest as the demigod strokes its paw with a fingertip, but it doesn't bother moving -- clearly this is a very laid back cat.

Loki glances up at him, drawing him over with those ever intense green eyes. "Why are these beasts in cages? Is this some kind of market?"

_Just grab him and keep walking, this can only end in adopting five cats on a whim, and probably buying a cat shelter. Just keep walking._

He heaves a heavy sigh and heads back towards the table, making a point of  _not_  looking at the cat (although it is rather cute, for a cat). "It's an adoption...thing. You know, for an animal shelter." The shelter doesn't have much in the way of signage, but a few KittyKorner banners with a clearly amateur logo of two cats forming a clumsy yin and yang symbol hang from the tables. It's also clearly a poorly funded shelter; the tables are rickety, and instead of professionally designed shirts the volunteers are simply wearing complementary colors and nametags. 

"Animal shelter?" The confusion on Loki's face doesn't clear up any, as if the word combination is foreign to him, and it probably is.

"I take it you don't have these back in Asgard," Tony muses. "Hell, do you guys even have pets?"

"Of course." Loki leans over to poke at the tuxedo cat again; this time it only makes the effort of opening a single yellow eye with which it gazes at him critically. "We do not keep such creatures enslaved as you do. They are usually feral, and when not they serve as treasured companions and familiars."

"Okay...I guess it's kind of the same thing." Tony scratches his head, unsure of how to proceed. He's never _owned_  a cat or a dog so he's not well acquainted with the purpose of pet ownership either. "They kinda serve a purpose. They tear up your carpet, piss on your sofa, and provide more than half of the videos on Youtube."

"Then why do you keep them in these cages?" Loki is completely failing to grasp the point of pet ownership  _or_  adoption, and Tony's the worst person to explain it to him. He's terribly relieved when a fiery-tressed teenager with a lively face flecked liberally with freckles approaches them, clutching a clipboard. Her nametag reads 'Ivy'. 

"Hi guys!" Tony's glad he's wearing sunglasses and that Loki's wearing  _normal_  clothing; the girl hasn't recognized either of them, fortunately -- for once he'd like to actually make it through an impromptu date in the park without being mobbed by paparazzi. "I'm Ivy. Did you need any help with anything?"

"We're just looking," Tony says quickly, before Loki can blow their cover. 

"Oh, this little sweetie pie?" Ivy reaches through the bars and strokes the tuxedo cat's head fondly. "Oreo's really nice. She's a lazy kitty."

_No kidding_. 

"Were you looking to adopt?" The  _"Oh hell no"_ on the tip of Tony's tongue dies at the brief shadow that passes across Loki's face at the word; it's only a few seconds, but it's a reminder of things that are much less pleasant to recall. 

"They are not for sale?" Loki's voice is steady, a frown twisting his lips. 

It's Ivy's turn to look confused. "Uh...no?"

"He's not from around here," Tony sighs. "He's never seen an animal shelter before."

"Oh!" Ivy perks up once more. "I can explain it to you." As she launches into an explanation/recitation of KittyKorner's mission statement, Tony takes the opportunity to take stock of the rest of the adoption setup. There are about ten crates, and only five of them still have animals in them, including the tuxedo cat. Two are sleek, black cats with shining green eyes; a ridiculously fluffy white ball of fur sprawled out in its cage, asleep, and a skinny grey tabby. It becomes clear why these cats are the remnants: not only is the adoption event not well-advertised, but all of the kittens have already been snatched up. The remaining animals don't garner much attention from the passerby. 

"Some people think cats aren't very friendly and not worth taking home, but that's not exactly true," Ivy is saying; for once Loki is listening intently, no offhanded comments about the idiocy of mortals forthcoming. "They're a hassle at times, and sometimes they completely ignore you or get irritated for awhile, but they can also be very loving. They have a sixth sense - they can tell when you need them. Mine is a grump most of the time but he knows when I'm having a bad day."

_Oh God, I'm dating a cat._ This is a thought that Tony decides to keep to himself, because voicing it will probably get him killed. 

"What happens to the ones that are not chosen?" 

Ivy's smile fades a bit. "Well...part of the reason we have to ask for such a high adoption fee is to offset the costs of feeding and housing the cats while trying to find forever homes for them. We're a non-profit organization, so we really have to lean on donations to stay open. But because we want to give as many animals a chance as possible and we don't have a lot of space..."

"They are killed?" Loki says sharply; apparently even an Asgardian demigod who's probably spilled  _quite a bit_  of blood in his day is appalled at the idea of euthanization. 

"Yeah." Ivy's face falls completely. "I hate putting it that way, but yes. After awhile, we're forced to put the animals we can't find homes for to sleep. There are a lot of homeless pets in New York City. I wish we could save all of them. Everyone deserves a forever home."

"That...is unfortunate." Loki sounds distant, his face a blank mask as he turns to the tuxedo cat, Oreo, again. The cat opens her mouth and yawns, a sweet little noise that charms even Tony, and he is most certainly  _not_  a cat person.

But he is a Loki person.

\----

"There are five cats in the kitchen." Natasha's tone is neutral, not necessarily betraying whether five cats in the kitchen is a problem or not. "Five."

"Yeah. What of it?" Tony doesn't bother to look up from the schematics on his tablet; in addition to the self-cleaning  _and_  self-refilling litterbox, the timed food and water dispenser, and the reinforced, stain-proof cat shelves, he's also worked up microchips with vital sign monitoring capabilities and GPS trackers, because Stark Tower is a pretty big place with lots of areas for kitties ( _cats, don't start using baby names or you're done for_ ) to get lost in. 

"Is there a reasonable explanation for why there are five cats in the kitchen?" 

"They live here now. Also I now own a no-kill shelter. It's been a busy day."

Natasha doesn't say anything for a minute. "Exorbitant and arbitrary purchases are not weird for you. Adopting five cats is." 

At that moment, Loki rounds the corner with one of the black cats (now lovingly entitled Bastet, because  _gods_ ) cradled in his arms and the other four following close behind. He settles on the sofa beside Tony, and the rest of the cats follow suit. This time Tony does look up from his work; today is gonna  _cost_ him, especially when the media footage from the park earlier (overjoyed Stark's KittyKorner volunteers, some crying, some dancing, complete chaos) hits the news and every other shelter in the city looks in his direction. But the contented expression on Loki's face and the rare softness in his eyes is totally worth it, several times over.

"Thank you for our forever home," he says quietly. 

Behind them, Natasha sighs. "You are so gone," she mutters before departing; the pair on the sofa surrounded by purring balls of fluff barely notices.

_Yeah, I am._

 

**Author's Note:**

> If what I'm looking at is correct, Stark Tower shouldn't be too far from Central Park. I could be wrong, though - correct me if I am! Thanks for reading!


End file.
